‘Banning trans women from women’s conference is a blow to trans people’s participation’

The conversation around trans people in British politics has become unavoidable. Since 2012, the number of articles about trans people, most of them hostile, has risen exponentially whilst a Home Office report pointed to an increase in politicians talking about trans issues as a reason for the increase in anti-trans hate crime. 

At the same time, there is a dearth of trans people involved in politics. There are no openly trans MPs – which comes as no surprise given the scale of abuse and threats that trans people in public face.

During my time as a councillor in Haringey, I received death threats and needed a police escort at my advice surgeries. This was in no small part connected to being an openly trans woman, campaigning on the inequalities that affect us all. 

READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Labour women’s conference plan and locals campaign priorities revealed

Banning trans women from the women’s conference is yet another blow to trans people’s participation in our democracy. 

A recent survey from The Good Law Project found that 91% of trans people said they distrusted Labour on trans rights whilst a concerning 84% said Britain is “fairly unsafe” or “very unsafe” for trans people. 

This is a vicious circle – as trans people are forcibly excluded from public life and political participation, there are even fewer voices to speak up against the rise of anti-trans hostility that is currently plaguing UK politics. 

On a practical level, the conference ban is entirely unenforceable. Will the Labour Party ask delegates to somehow “prove” their sex assigned at birth? Will women who present outside of gender norms be harassed if someone thinks they might be trans? And, typically, no consideration is given to intersex people who cannot be easily defined by a sex binary. No one benefits from the intrusive and degrading implications of this ban. 

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The very viability of the women’s conference is now threatened. When Cycling UK excluded trans women from their awards, it prompted a mass boycott by winners. Given the emphatic support for trans rights shown at the recent TUC Conference, it is uncertain whether the Labour women’s conference can even go ahead if unions refuse to attend.

This reveals what the anti-trans movement is all about. It seeks to drive a wedge between all of us who want to see an end to gender inequality. It detracts from a conference that should centre on the real injustices in society: for example, the fact 3.8 million people experienced domestic abuse in the UK in the last year, the shocking revelation that the gender pay gap is actively widening or reports from teachers that extreme misogynistic content is being normalised amongst school children. Instead, the focus becomes trans women. 

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Labour is the party of the Equality Act – enshrining protections for trans people against discrimination. It is the party that decriminalised homosexuality in the 1960s and repealed Section 28 in 2003. This Labour Government is risking leaving a shameful legacy on LGBT+ rights if it does not address trans exclusion and recommit itself to human rights for all. 

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